There’s an underwater sinkhole off the coast of Belize that’s so deep, scientists aren’t sure how far down it goes.
In Chetumal Bay, sinkhole Taam ja’, a ‘blue hole’, has proved to be a challenge for researchers attempting to measure its depth.
Using sonar to map the outlet, they found Taam ja’ is roughly 900 feet deep – but those measurements is likely to be inaccurate, attributable to temperature and salinity changes in each layer of water.
Divers were sent into the outlet, roughly 30 metres down, and located that the partitions of the outlet were squishy and uneven, before turning into firmer rock.
After anchoring a ship above the outlet’s opening, a research team lowered an enormous cable, measuring 1,640 feet, into the outlet, nevertheless it wasn’t long enough to succeed in the underside.
Researchers noted that the instrument might have been pushed sideways by currents and thrown off the measurements, however the mystery stays: how deep is Taam ja’?
Despite repeated attempts to measure the outlet with long cables, there’s been no definitive measure of its depth.
For years, the Sansha Yongle Blue Hole, within the South China Sea, was believed to be the deepest blue hole within the ocean.
If scientists can measure the depth of Taam ja’, it could replace the Sansha Yongle hole because the deepest measured sinkhole within the ocean.
It’s believed Taam ja’ could have a network of underwater caves and tunnels, making its measurement even harder.
Earlier this yr, scientists were capable of extract a sediment core from the underside of the marine sinkhole that provided a 5,700-year storm archive.
The layers of sediment showed that over the past six millennia, on average, between 4 and 16 tropical storms omit the outlet per 100 years.
The Great Blue Hole lies around 60 miles off the coast of Belize City and is an element of the Belize Barrier Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It was formed at the tip of the last Ice Age when rising seawaters flooded a series of enormous caverns.
It’s thought the caves were formed about 153,000 years ago and completely submerged around 15,000 years ago.
The Hole is populated by several shark species, including Caribbean reef sharks, nurse sharks, hammerheads, bull sharks, and black-tip sharks.
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